Planning to Succeed

Plan to Succeed

With any venture you will take, it is going to be much more successful if you have planned it, correct? There is no exception to owning a business. Perth business coach, Suzzanne Laidlaw, has a whole workshop dedicated to businesses getting their own business plans done within a couple of sessions. Suzzanne comes across a lot of business owners who think having passion and confidence for their business is enough to succeed… Although they are very important factors that contribute to a successful business, it is vital that a business has an effective plan in place.

Suzzanne Laidlaw, global award winner for Business Planning in 2015, says “The importance of drafting a business plan is vital. Many business owners are under the impression that their passion and confidence will be enough to create a successful business. Operating without a business plan proves to be more time-consuming as well as costly in the long run.”

There are seven main reasons why a business plan is so beneficial:

A clear and concise statement of your business mission and vision

Targets to track your performance

A clear breakdown of your industry, e.g. opportunities and threats

A map of your major competitors and your competition strategies

An evaluation of your businesses strengths and weaknesses

A map and timetable for accomplishing your goals and objectives

An analysis of your revenue, costs and projected profits.

If these benefits still haven’t convinced you consider the risks you are taking when you do not have a business plan in place…

If you haven’t anticipated your start-up costs, you run the risk of running out of cash before you have even opened your doors

Losing current and potential clients because the quality of your services/goods fall short

Becoming overwhelmed by all your options and choices because you hadn’t planned out your company’s mission and vision

Being unclear of who your customers are and what they are after, and therefore missing sale projections

And worst of all… Going bankrupt! If you don’t have an efficient business model or a plan on how to make money, how will you make money?

The time you spend creating a solid business plan will be time well spent. The more preparing you do, the more prepared you will be for everything your business faces. Finally, something quite fitting that business coach Suzzanne Laidlaw often quotes is “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”